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Have earned monies from my club book (by letting others order from it etc) which I will loose if I dont use. Have been thinking for some time of a slow cooker and two are on offer - a Swan with ceramic inside and a Crock Pot one with stoneware inside. Dishwasher safe etc doesnt matter as I dont have a dishwasher (well - me

I am on my own - what do others use theirs for and would they recomend that or another device??
Many thanks for any help offered

Hi, I had a crockpot one for years and never had a problem with it, when I needed a new one I went for a ceramic and haven't found any real difference cooking wise, but cleaning the ceramics is a breeze. Not sure if this will make a difference once it has 'aged' but I'm happy with it.
Good luck with whatever one you decide on, I love the slow cooker.

I think either would be good. If you're worried about the cleaning of the pot you can now buy slow cooker liners. Aldi sell them but our local one doesn't have any at the moment but don't know if it's a case of them not doing them any more.

I think either would be good. If you're worried about the cleaning of the pot you can now buy slow cooker liners. Aldi sell them but our local one doesn't have any at the moment but don't know if it's a case of them not doing them any more.

That's what I'm planning on doing in the next week or so but fortunately I don't have to grate the veg as DH is happy to eat almost any veg, although I shall probably grate quite a bit of it just so it doesn't look too veg heavy!!!

I would say either of those would be fine I have two slow cookers a smaller one which was my DDs and her family 'grew' out of and a larger oval one which I bought in Sainsbobs about 10 years ago The smaller one does fine for making a meal for myself and my friend when she comes to visit.(usually have a little left over for a portion for the freezer) The big one is ideal for doing a whole chicken or a large batch of stew/mince etc .

I use it for cooking a large rice pud overnight as well.The chook I will turn on just before I go to bed and in the morning the kitchen is warm and smelling gorgeous and the food is falling off the bones.Once I have got it out I strip the chicken off and chuck the bones back in for another half an hour then strain the whole lot into a large jug.Once cold the fat is skimmed off the the remaining jelly stock makes smashing base for soups etc,also freezes well for a later day.

Its amazing just how much meat falls off the chook this way and absolutely nothing is wasted apart from the very last lot of bones.Makes a great neck of lamb casserole as well.In fact apart from my Remoska I think my slow cooker is the best gadget in my kitchen Its cheap to run and once the food is prepared you can swith it on and forget about it.Great for large vats of veggie soups as well.

Re the knobs on the lids my plastic one cracked with age I think and I replaced it with a wooden one bought from a hardware shop, easy to do as the lid has an ordinary screw hole in the middle and its just a case of unscrewing the old knob and replacing it with a new one cost me about 50p I think about 5 years ago ( I do the same with saucepan lids if I can)
As for liners well when my pot is empty I just fill with hot water and some detergent powder and leave to steep for half an hour the same as will greasy roasting pans/dishes and the residue just comes of very easily.Bit of 'free' elbow grease and its never been a problem.I too have a perfectly capable pair of hands for washing up

Quot Libra,Quam Breve Tempus.

December budget £60.00 5/6 NSD so far.Spent £9.90 this morning, £50.10 left

I am a little clumsy at the best of times, but I also have a really tiny kitchen. When I accidentally knocked the lid of mine off the side and it smashed, it was no big deal because it was a round one and the same standard size as one of my saucepan lids. For that reason I would always get a round one now rather than an oval one! Unless you are clumsy this probably isn't applicable but I thought I would mention it just in case you are

I've only ever had standard slow cookers, I go through one every 3 or 4 years (I've had some die, some go mankind and some I've broken the pots on). I've got the medium oval and large oval ones at the moment and they get a lot of use. I've never bothered going for "named" makes, just shops own. They all vary in temperature so you'll get used to what yours does after a few uses.

Yesterday I used the larger one, popped in half a bag of frozen onions and half a bag of frozen peppers, a bag of diced frozen cubed beef, a time of tomatoes, kidney beans and butter beans, a big squidgy of tomatoes pur!e, some herbs and spices and a spoonful of gravy granules near the end to thicken.....it made the most amazing chill that fed the 4 of us with enough left for 2 more meals. It was on the go for 7 hours (high for 2 hours and low for the rest).

In the smaller one today I've got a gammon joint that's been on the go since 10am, just in water and it smells amazing.

Wouldn't be without a slow cooker.

"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with" - W. C. Field.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me I will take on board all of your comments and review the ones on offer with them in mind.

I have moved house recently and now have a very pretty JL designed kitchen! All very pretty but an electric Zanussi oven which is also the grill. Flippin useless thing! Takes an AGE to heat up and then burns toast!! Also huge space to heat up when cooking one thing - I realise that there must be more energy efficient ways of cooking (to save my bills and the planet!!) It takes an AGE to heat up before you are supposed to start cooking things in the oven!! GRRR

Also fitted with a freezer (same make) which you have to defrost by hand (rather thana self defrost one) AND a fridge (same make) where the draws are designed very badly so that any weight in them (such as a few jars of pickle/sauce) causes them to fall out/off- why would you fit such rubbish appliances in a top drawer kitchen???

OK enough with the ranting Lyn - its a very very First World problem! (at self)

I'll let you know what I decide folks
Frugaling onward!

NSDs 2015:185/330 (allowing for hols etc)

LBM: started Jan 2012 - still learning!Life gives us only lessons and gifts - learn the lesson and it becomes a gift.' from the Bohdavista

I got one of the Morphy Richards "Sear and Stew" ones for my Christmas last year, and I LOVE it. It's great because you can put the crock on the hob and use it to fry anything off to start, or even if you just want to bring it up to heat quickly to get things going faster.

It doesn't look quite as attractive as some of the other crocks, which is worth considering if you plan to use it as a serving dish. However, it's really easy to clean, and nice and light, so easy to lift in and out of the main cooker.

It has a glass lid, and while I can't vouch for it being heat-proof, I like being able to peer in at my food while it's cooking, and it means I'm much less tempted to remove the lid, which is the real problem if you want to maintain heat. I've noticed I tend to need less liquid than recommended in most recipes designed for slow cookers, so I assume this means it's got a good seal.

I've not yet used it to roast a chicken or an oblong joint of meat, but if that's what you fancy, you should get an oval cooker rather than round.

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